For my cultural event I went to an event called Feed My Starving Children in Libertyville, Illionois. I attended this event on Tuesday April 11th. Feed My Starving Children was a cultural event that felt like a great fit. I volunteered and had a chance to learn about different cultures and what their struggle was like in terms of children lacking food sources. 

We first walked into the building where we were greeted and told to sign in, grab a hair net and gloves, and to take a seat. Once everyone was seated there was a speaker who greeted us. There was a large amount of volunteeers there already sitting waiting for the presentation. The speaker told us about their organization and their culture as an organization. They explained everything they stood for, how they operated and how we could help. Feed My Starving children takes in large groups of people who come to help bag food to be sent to other countries that have children who are starving. We then went on to watch a video about the culture and need for food for some children in Haiti. The video was heartbreaking to watch but I learned many new things about children in Haiti and other countries in need as well. I learned how basic needs in their culture are hard to come by such as food, water and medical attention. A child was featured in the video who was three years old and she weighed under 15 pounds. After Feed My starving Children intervened with this child and many other lives, she was able to gain weight and maintain a healthy weight for her age after several months of eating the food provided by this organization. In the after photo she looked much happier.

The first 20 minutes being at this event was already an eye opener for me into a whole different culture. We learned how family is very important and traditions are important as well. We learned even when families don't have much they work hard to support each other. I wanted to learn and do more after seeing a preview of these children's culture and what life meant for them. The video also showed us other countries around the world that Feed My Starving Children helped by sending food to them. We then continued on to the main room where about 60 of us separated into groups to bag food and box them as fast as we could. They turned it into a fun competition to see what team/country could bag the most food while listening to fun music. When each box was completed our team would yell out a fun chant. The culture within the event was somewhat similar to mine. We all wanted to learn, have fun and we wanted to give back in some way.  The culture of these children from Haiti is very different from mine in many ways. The worry of when the next meal may be or when I could get a hold of water was not part of my childhood. In my culture we have endless water to a point where we waste it far too often. Our culture takes water and food for granted in my mind and it is sad to see at times how much goes to waste. These kids in Haiti have such a different culture and how they live their lives. Its events such as this one that really change your way of thinking and puts things into perspective. Do you agree that high school's should require students to attend cultural events each year to help people at a young age become more culturally aware and diverse such as the one I or you attended for this assignment?